Shapeshifter the Merthusa Version
by MediEvil Ways
Summary: Written as the response to a request by XAOTL Omega. My previous story, Shapeshifter, with a different twist and purpose: the romantic relationship between Merlin and Aithusa. Might get smutty. MA for safety.
1. Hormones!

**Disclaimers**: BBC's – not mine. No infringements intended.

**A/N**: Here it is! The Merthusa-version of _Shapeshifter_ that I promised XAOTL Omega. The idea of the composition is that the two first chapters are almost identical to the original story save the last two paragraphs that are rewritten here below before the third chapter starts. The trick was to remove any of the I-feel-so-like-a-father Merlin that the original story contained. In my opinion, no healthy person who feels like a father would go for his offspring in a sexual way. Therefore, that feeling in him would have to be erased. Instead, I hope to convey a certain sense of responsibility in him, but rather that of a mentor, who might feel that an attraction towards a student is wrong, but could be swayed. Therefore, this story will be completely different with a different focus and a different ending. I have recycled some of the scenes, just giving them a twist that serves the new objective.

Stay away from this if you think the combination of Merthusa is just wrong, but read it if you like the idea. Those of you who do … please let me know how I have solved this challenge. :-)

A last warning: It might get smutty – I haven't decided yet.

xxx

"Heaven help us!"

The words were Gaius' and for once, Merlin couldn't agree more.

"That's what I was thinking," he grumbled.

"Merlin, you will have to lock her up!" Gaius said, emphasising every word, "she probably hasn't discovered it yet, but once those teenage hormones are raging, she will have no upbringing to help her ignore them!"

Merlin blanched. "Well – erm. I don't know anything about female hormones," he stammered, "You have much more experience in this field than I have, Gaius. What do you suggest?"

Gaius sighed. "Well, we are at a loss here. You and I have seen this issue from the other end and not hers."

Merlin nodded. "Gwen is coming round any second now. We could ask her to have a talk with Aithusa – well – as talks go with her."

"Not a bad idea," Gaius admitted. Then he straightened and looked at his protégée with something very like pride.

Gwen came by after supper, carrying a beautiful ash blue everyday dress for the new young addition to the Gaius household. She greeted Aithusa cordially and held up the dress, satisfying herself that she had got it exactly right. "You'll look beautiful in it," she stated and answered the girl's smile that was becoming increasingly less stiff.

Gwen felt a tentative hand on her elbow and turned to see Merlin and Gaius stare intensely at her. She cocked an eyebrow, recognising a silent plea. Leaving Aithusa in Merlin's room to finish her dressing by herself, she therefore returned to the laboratory.

Merlin started without preamble. "Gwen, could we ask you to … I mean … Aithusa's mother never got the chance to … and now she's ..."

"Menstruating?" Gwen suggested.

Merlin's eyes widened and his shoulders fell so quickly it was almost comical.

"YES! How did you...?"

"I saw the blood on the sheets in your room," Gwen laughed, "you poor guys. You really have got your hands full, haven't you?" then she turned to Gaius.

"Honestly, Gaius – you're a physician!"

"I can tell her about the physical part of it, as I have already provided her with towels," he grumbled, "but she has already read a whole book on it. It's the … do-not-run-after-boys-and-ignore-your-hormones-part we need you to convey."

"Oh," Gwen said and then frowned, "hasn't her mother already …?"

"No," Merlin said quickly, hoping to god he wouldn't have to explain this further.

Fortunately, he didn't. Gwen took it in her stride and said instead:

"Well, we'll take tea, thank you very much – and a biscuit and then I will return to your room and your cousin, Merlin."

Armed with her request, Gwen went back into the said room, leaving the men outside while they, perhaps for the umpteenth time in their life, were wondering exactly what women were telling each other when not in the company of men.

CHAPTER 3

**Hormones!**

The following days went a little more smoothly. Gradually, Aithusa was getting used to using the wash room, and slowly she was getting used to normal human food. She would, though, still throw a longing glance after the occasional critter or cat in the street and stand very close to Gaius or Merlin when they were cooking, her eyes hungrily focused on the piece of meat they had dropped in the pot or on the cook in question if the food be vegetarian. At unattended moments, Merlin would even catch her drooling despite the fact that he had cautioned her not to do so. _It is not proper_, he warned her. _Why not?_ she wanted to know. Merlin couldn't quite explain it – it had something to do with decorum. And then he had to explain to her what decorum was.

Being the literal creature she was, she would then strive to stop drooling over meat – but not when he found her gawking at a handsome knight passing by in the street. At first, he thought with a shiver that she saw the person in question as a piece of edible meat, but later he realised that it was a different kind of delicacy she recognised in the knight. Again, the unfortunate sorcerer had to explain the proper manner to his ward.

_But I see men drool over women_, she argued. _That may to be so_, Merlin answered her, _but the other way round is not proper; a lady does not drool over a man_. She cocked her head, indicating that a question was on its way. _Would you be offended if I drool over you?_ Merlin started, the very thought of it making him blush past his prominent ears. He hadn't even considered the possibility that she might actually do that.

_YES! Don't do that_, he cautioned her.

Later that day, fortunately, the issue of discussion had changed into the finer pronunciation of the human language. Gaius was being his most scientific self in his approach. "Aithusa, my dear, round your lips, use your midriff to press out some air in little huffs like this," Gaius said, squeezing out the letter _o_.

Aithusa frowned, looking at Merlin, who nodded his approval at her, and she eventually mimicked the sound nicely. Her success took her by surprise and she looked up and looked at her two hosts, who were cheering her along with huge smiles. In her eagerness to please and to follow up her good effort, she tried again, this time applying more force in the air huffing…

… which resulted in a torch of fire leaving her mouth with a hiss.

Impressively swift for such an old man, Gaius threw himself to floor, whereas Merlin made a very nice ballet move to the right, dodging her lethal flame by an inch.

"WOAH..." Merlin exclaimed, "a little less midriff, perhaps!"

Aithusa looked at them with regret in her eyes and two red spots burning on her young, smooth cheeks.

x

The midriff-fire episode was not without merit as it did leave the young dragon thoughtful as how to control that particular part of her body more efficiently. The next morning, Merlin found her crouching in the corner of his room with her right hand on her midriff, emitting vowels while trying to control her inner fire. She looked up, her glance beckoning and curious as the same time. _Will you help me?_

"Of course," he said softly, "what can I do for you?"

She rose, her lithe body only clad in her night shirt, and approached him. Then, without explanation, she turned her back on him, reached back with her right hand and grabbed his to place it on her midriff. Merlin suppressed his reaction brought on by the smell of her hair and her slightly moist skin. Her hand was cool, but the belly skin he felt through the shirt was quite warm. _Are her dragon fires blazing already now? _He asked himself.

_When I utter a vowel_, she projected, _please hold in my diaphragm_, she said, using the Latin term she had read in the book on human physique. _If the muscle comes out after clenching, it will release the flames. It helps when I crouch, but I cannot crouch every time I say something._

Merlin had to agree in that, she felt him nod against her nape and knew he was ready.

Then she inhaled; Merlin felt how her powerful muscle contracted and he let his long, slim hand follow the movement. She then paused before rounding her lips, her guardian held his hand still to limit the midriff's movement as she exhaled, letting out an 'o' in the process.

Success! No smoke or fire escaped. He felt her exhale heavily in relief. Merlin kept his hand firmly on her diaphragm, expecting her fiery reserves to react to her sigh. The dragon girl smiled and leaned back, into his arms, resting her head on his shoulder, and flashed a genuine smile at him. _Thank you_. Then she straightened, touched his hand to signal that she would like to try again; Merlin pressed in his hand again, her belly now warmer than before, the flames inside of her rolling and feeding on her emotions. Aithusa concentrated, opened her mouth and uttered "tha yu".

Merlin laughed in triumph, delivering a quick and chaste peck on her temple.

"You did it," he said proudly, "you said a word!" The dragonlord hugged his dragon cordially.

x

Merlin's young dragon girl continued to practise her vowels diligently, yet this was not the only challenge she faced as a human. Coordinating the most intricate tool ever created by the Almighty proved to be more difficult than she had anticipated: using her hands to the extent of their innate potential.

Aithusa was sitting with a bowl, trying to peel pea pods; she didn't have much luck, which was obvious from the heaps of squashed and ripped pods round her chair. Merlin watched her affectionately: how she sat there with her dress drawn over her knees balancing the bowl between her pale, bare knees. This particular exercise had caused her problems too and had partly resulted in an excess of peas on the floor. Her eyes were reflecting deep concentration and her otherwise very smooth brow was knitted in frustration and effort as one pod after the other slid through her fingers and down onto the floor. Merlin's smile widened. She was so diligent and her tenacity appeared boundless. The warlock went to her side, picked up a pea pod and one more time showed her how to separate the pod halves from each other and take out the peas. She watched with deep fascination and awe and tried it again herself. A little better this time, yet it still left room for improvement.

_It's a question of coordination_, he projected to her the way he always did when she needed comfort. _Eventually, your fingers will grasp the idea_. She nodded obligingly and tried again. Still, though, her fingers weren't too keen on following her instructions. Merlin reached out, placed his long, sleek fingers over her feminine, elegant ones, gave them a little squeeze and said.

"Follow the movement of my fingers and you will soon pick it up."

Aithusa looked intently at her dragonlord's hands and concentrated on letting her own hands stay put underneath his. His hands were warm to the touch and hers were cool. As a cold-blooded reptile, her limbs would follow the temperature of her surroundings, being shade or sun. This constant extremities warmth was hard to get used to, yet the heat radiating from her master felt pleasurable and comforting, she decided. Shaking her head gingerly, she returned to the task at hand and finally managed to peel the pea pods correctly. Merlin's exhilarated reaction to the success made her warm inside – also a phenomenon that would not happen in her reptilian form.

x

As the days went by, the dragonlord noticed a growing frustration in his dragon. She simply found that she did not progress at the speed that she would like to. Merlin sympathised: Humans required years develop their skills. As almost any other species, she would learn in no time, however, while Aithusa was in her human form, patience was one skill she would sorely need. Patience and … time off. This gave him an idea.

In the middle of the night, Merlin took Aithusa to the place where he used to meet her dragon mentor, Kilgharrah. The place was not too far, well hidden and perfect for landing and taking off and would thus be a nice spot for the young white dragon to stretch her wings and be … a dragon.

"Well, shapeshifter," he murmured, stroking her cheek, "spread your wings and have a ball. We don't need to go back until early daybreak."

Aithusa flashed him a toothy smile and quickly shed her clothes completely devoid of modesty to her ward's consternation, leapt forward and spread her arms that fluently morphed into wide, leathery wings. Fascinated, Merlin watched as the rest of her was transformed into a dragon to fit the wings and for the first time, Merlin actually set his eyes on the full grown form of the white dragon Aithusa. It took his breath away.

Her scales glinted white in the faint light of the half moon, her eyes, still watery blue, blinked at him the way he remembered when he called her into this world. Her brow and nose ridge were slightly aquiline, her limbs slim and long and her tail longer than that of Kilgharrah.

"Amazing," Merlin sighed, "the last time I saw you as a dragon ..." then he frowned, suddenly remembering an interesting fact from back then. "The last time I saw you as a dragon, you were a boy dragon."

Aithusa nodded, this human movement now so integrated in her that she used it too in her dragon shape. _That is true, my dragonlord_, she projected, _when I realised I was the last of my kind, however, I changed my sex._

Merlin looked at her, bewildered. "How can you do that?"

_It is not uncommon even in non-magical beings_, she pointed out, _some of my distant amphibian relations can do this when our species is in need of breeding._

Without further comment, the white dragon bent her legs and her heavy body lifted itself off the ground, quickly flapping the large wings and within seconds reached a high altitude.

Merlin laughed out loud as he saw how she playfully threw herself into the air, making one loop after the other, expressing sheer joy of life, diving quickly towards the ground only to break off in the last nick of moment and then rising vertically towards the stars. Had she not been white, he would have had a hard time following her flight in the night. This was her true self, her real nature; she was in his household on loan, only – he would lose her company one day.

Merlin sat down on a stone and watched her, thirstily drinking the sight of her every move. He was so enwrapped in the sight of her breathtaking flight that he didn't even noticed her landing in front of him, transforming back into a human; she knelt by him. "Up … 'ere?", she said, pointing up. Still being somewhat rosy cheeked by the sight of her beautiful naked form, he smiled, embarrassed. "I would love to. On your back?"

"No," she said, getting up and wrapping him in her arms before he could protest. Her back morphed into a dragon's strong spine and powerful wings, complete with tail for rudder, but her front stayed human as she easily lifted herself and Merlin into the air. _Wrap your arms round my waist_, she projected. She didn't have to say that twice. Merlin was holding on to her for his dear life, burying his face in her long, white golden hair. Sufficiently high up in the night, she flipped and proceeded to fly on her back, Merlin now lying on top of her, secured by her long, strong arms. The lower part of his chest lay against her warm belly of flames and kept him reasonably warm against the chill of the black night. The wind tore at his raven hair and sculpted face, making his eyes water and he found it hard to speak. _Is this not cold for you?_ he projected, _is the dragon form not better suited for a cold night?_

_My inner fire keeps me warm from my scalp to the tiniest of my toes_, she answered, peering up at him with her transparent eyes that, at that moment, looked like a window to the universe with a thousand little stars twinkling their reflection in them.

_I don't ever want to get down_, he found himself thinking. Yet, of course, they had to. Dawn would be breaking shortly and a day of duties and responsibilities were waiting.

But they would be back in the air. Oh, yes, they would be back.

x

Walking home by daybreak, the red sun only just beginning to peer over the horizontal line, Merlin keenly felt how relaxed the nightly excursion had made Aithusa. They were passing through the slowly awakening town, Aithusa lively and energetic and Merlin tired to the bone having been bereft of his much needed sleep. _But it was worth it_, he thought, _I am sure this will prove to work wonders on her tension and it will be much easier for her to concentrate on learning how to speak and to ignore her hormones._

Engulfed in what he hoped and believed to be prophetic musings, he never noticed how Aithusa's head suddenly whiplashed to the left, her eyes very attentive and her smile very predatory. Her pheromonal sense picked up the seductive movement and masculine musky scent of someone who was very much a man. This particular man was just coming out of a tavern where he had spent the entire night, his long limbs dangling in a rogue and suave way even if he was stone drunk.

Aithusa had just spotted Gwaine.

xxx

**Jealousy next? The only way you'll find out is if you stay tuned! Let me know what you think, please! Review, review, review! PLZ!**


	2. Tactility

**Disclaimers**: yadayada...

**A/N**: Wow! One magnificent review by XAOTL Omega. Cheers ever so much! After all, this story is completely for your benefit, so I'm gratified you like it. More advanced descriptions? Yeah, that'll only take a couple of years – LOL. It has to do with both English proficiency (or lack thereof) and writing experience. However, your reviews help me learn the writing part, so plz keep at it! As for the English, I have my trusty grammar book – except it doesn't really teach me contemporary English. Soooo – beta, anyone?

Anyway, I'm so glad you liked it – and a little surprised as I felt very much like a fish out of water with this; being ever the action gal, romantic feelings were never my forte. Nough said – brace yourself for the next instalment:

CHAPTER 4

**Tactility**

After having done selected chores for King Arthur, Merlin headed for his cot. Aithusa was not as tired as he would have liked, so he provided a book on diction and pronunciation for her and assigned her some chores of her own in the lab that could sorely use a good scrub. And then the exhausted mentor fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.

Aithusa did her chores to the best of her ability – though Gaius might be slightly surprised and somewhat annoyed to find that those of his books that had been lying on the slab had had each page washed thoroughly. Eventually she sat down with the diction and pronunciation book and eagerly practised pronouncing the short sounds of the first chapter, which she achieved without barbecuing? the pages. She then proceeded to apply her experience to words she knew well in her thoughts: dragon, dragonlord, magic and Merlin. When she thought she had her dragonlord's name down to a tee, she went to his room, intent on presenting him with her new accomplishment. Yet when she got there, the sight of his sleeping form with his relaxed features and innocent and peaceful look made her reconsider and even feel drowsy and drawn to his resting body. Reptiles did not sleep in close vicinity; mostly, they just tried to eat each other as soon as they came out of the egg, but she knew from studies that humans did. Another human trait she needed to try.

So the young, slim girl placed her body carefully on the cot, spooning her caretaker and wrapped her long arms round his neck and shoulders. They were bony, she idly noticed and concluded with concern: _He needs to eat more._ This new emotion made her press her body closer to him. Merlin merely smacked his jaws, sighed and drew the blanket up to cover them both, never opening his eyes. The tactile sensation fascinated Aithusa; with the thin, human skin, touch was such a different sense from that of a thick-skinned dragon with scales.

_This is nice_, the dragon thought. _This is a good human habit_. She snuggled even closer to him, relishing the smoothness of his soft skin, closed her eyes and very quickly fell asleep.

x

When Aithusa woke up, the spot beside her was empty and despite the blanket, she felt cold with a sudden rush of solitude. A high pitched whistling came from the kitchen and the accompanying clanging and rustling sounds indicated that Merlin had started making supper. Her teeth instantly started watering, anticipating big lumps of meat or bones. The young girl quickly disengaged herself from the blanket and sheets and hastened to join her dragonlord in the kitchen. When she got there, Gaius was greeting her as well.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," the Court Physician said cheerfully, "I understand you have been stretching your legs .. that is, your wings a bit?"

She nodded, "Draaa … con," she emitted. The sound of her opening her mouth had both Merlin and Gaius dive for cover, but when no flames came their way, they tentatively approached her, step by step, big smiles from ear to ear.

"That was excellent pronunciation!" Merlin could barely contain himself, "Dragon! You'll be chitchatting in no time."

Gaius patted her on her shoulder, not having the heart to tell her the possible ramifications of uttering this word in public as she happily stood by Merlin, continuously saying the word until it actually sounded like … dragon. And Merlin was beaming away and couldn't get enough of the word. There would be time to discuss the danger of certain words, he was sure; for now, let her bask in the triumph.

After supper, Merlin went to service the King and Gaius stayed behind with Aithusa. It started off peacefully enough, but as the evening passed, the old physician became more and more tired and eventually fell asleep in the chair, his head drooping and his mouth drooling. Aithusa looked at him for a while, her head cocked in curiosity, but quickly got bored and went to the window sill to look at the evening life of Camelot.

The Humans looked so small as they scurried along to prepare themselves for the night. At the far corner of the city square was a lit building from where odd squeals (could be singing, she surmised) could be heard. Over the entrance, there was a sign reading _The Rising Sun _with a the painting of a sun underneath the text; humans were going in and out; those who went in walked straight and those who came out, walked in a funny tilted way. Aithusa's curiosity grew. Her attention was caught by a figure that looked familiar as he crossed the square and quickly and noisily entered the building. When he turned in the door, she saw half of his face lit by the light coming from the entrance. She started in anticipation. It was the man she had seen earlier the same day: the charming rogue with dark hair and a smile that seemed to invite her. She found she liked dark hair.

The young dragon girl quickly and silently left the Court Physician's chambers. Gaius slept on peacefully.

x

She spotted him quickly. The suave man with the twinkling eyes sat in the middle of the room, a tankard of mead on his table and a wide grin on his lips. The place was full and lively, even though some of the guests fell taciturn by the sight of the young girl entering, some of them stepped out of her way almost in awe of her youth while others refused to budge just for the pleasure of her having to rub herself against them to get past. Gwaine didn't see her until she stood right in front of him.

"Bloody hell!" he said, his tankard almost tipping and some of the mead escaping. "Erm – what can I do for you, little lady?"

Aithusa looked at the vacant chair by the table and the knight nodded, "By all means," he murmured, his usual charming smile back in place. "And what's your name, then, little one?"

The young dragon formed the word with her lips: "A … du .. za." Then she coughed gently, doing her best to quell the fire and smoke that was about to leave her mouth and nostrils.

The name almost made her target fall from his chair.

"Aithusa?" he asked in wonder. She nodded. "Then you're Merlin's cousin. I'm Gwaine – one of the Knights of the Round Table and a friend of your guardian," he said. "You shouldn't be here!"

She cocked her head, interested; some of his charm had disappeared and she wondered why that was. She also noticed that his eyes were brown and she frowned at that, realising that she'd much prefer blue eyes. Preferably dark blue eyes.

"You've learned to speak?" Gwaine asked, putting the mead aside just to make sure that this vision was not the result of his habit.

She shook her head. Five-six words could not be called 'speaking'. To communicate this, she put up a couple of fingers and said "..ord-s." he nodded, understanding her perfectly.

"Still practising, eh? Well, don't you worry, my pretty one. You'll be proficient in no time. Merlin is the best teacher there is."

"Dra-con … lawd," she managed to say, amending his designation for Merlin, "dragon" still being the one she managed the best. The knight's smile vanished impressively fast.

"Ermm," he said, leaning over conspiratorially, "I'm sure you shouldn't say that word in public – impressive as it is."

She blinked at him, not comprehending. Gwaine suppressed a sigh. He should get her out of there as soon as possible. But not too hastily or it would attract too much attention, though it may already be too late. And what the blazes possessed the girl to say _dragonlord_?

Gwaine bestowed his most winning smile on his young table companion, "I think we should leave this place, Aithusa, and get you back where you belong. How about that?"

To his immense surprise, she shook her head vehemently, turned her head in the direction of his tankard and grabbed it before he had a chance to intervene.

"No-**no**!" he cried, reaching out, though it was already too late. Aithusa put the tankard to her lips and started drinking. Five seconds it took him to get the tankard out of her hands and away from her mouth; five seconds and still she had managed to down almost half of it. Oh, man, Merlin was going to kill him!

"That's really a bad idea," the knight said, "that strong mead at your age is always a bad idea."

Aithusa replied by ripping out a belch that put a coal burner to shame. Gwaine removed the mead all together and looked nervously at her.

"Well .. um … good. Now you have tried that. Can we get out of here?"

The dragon girl blinked her eyes placidly, feeling very, very docile all of a sudden. Then she giggled; a bell-like, crisp little sound that Gwaine found extremely attractive. He shook his head. This was Merlin's ward – very young and inexperienced virgin. What was he thinking? Gwaine got up and gently hoisted Aithusa out of the chair. She followed him willingly if a little shakily. Gwaine bit his lip. Was there any way he could sober this girl up before they returned to Merlin?

The fountain in the square right in front of the castle was where Gwaine had hoped to be able to bring her. Plenty of water on her face and in her throat would do wonders, he felt certain. Yet, they didn't even get as far as the water before disaster struck. Under the influence of alcohol (or so he hoped), the young Aithusa suddenly pushed Gwaine into an alley and started snogging him completely unhinged.

The dragon girl found the smell of the knight intoxicating, despite the fact that the alcohol had dampened her sense of smell somewhat. She cocked her head and looked at him, and in the darkness of the alley could almost imagine that he had dark blue eyes. Then deciding that she needed the experience and practice, she resumed her advances before Gwaine could protest even more.

Gwaine was gasping for air. Aithusa's mouth was constantly and a little awkwardly in his face and her hands were everywhere! Once he had managed to remove one hand, another would make it to his chest or his buttocks. One very masculine part of him noticed that she was improving fast, her kisses becoming deeper and more alluring and her touch more arousing, another and brainier part of him screamed 'stop', listing all the good reasons why this should not happen.

And then, all of a sudden, her weight lifted and her busy hands disappeared and instead of her sweet golden head a black one appeared, sitting on someone considerably taller than himself.

_**Oh, crap!**_

Gwaine tried a goofy grin. "Hullo, Merlin. Done with today's chores?"

_WHACK!_

For the first time ever, Gwaine realised that Merlin was not pulling his punches. Such a skinny boy? Who would have known? The knight regained his balance, straightened and felt his jaw. Still there. Then he met the angry dark blue eyes of a very upset warden.

"What are you **doing**? She's not for your picking, for chrissakes!"

"Ouch … Mervin. It's not what it vooks vike – honesvy!" the poor man drawled, the pain in his jaw making it difficult for him to speak properly.

Merlin waved a very agitated finger at him. "Did you know who she was?"

"Yeah … she said her name – and ever since, I have tried getting her home! Please, you've got to believe me!" Gwaine assured his friend, now finding it a bit easier to articulate the words.

"I **saw **you! You were all over her. You pig! Stay away from her!"

"Hang on!" Gwaine cried, somewhat miffed, "I never touched her. She, however, virtually attacked me when we got out of the tavern, I..."

Merlin, too angry and upset to listen, pulled back his fist to bury it in Gwaine's face for the second time when Aithusa suddenly projected at him. _He tells the truth_._ I took the initiative_. Merlin froze. _**Oh, no.**_

_There really is no reason to harm him_, she continued, feeling both concerned and oddly gratified that Merlin had jumped her would-be lover. Merlin stood still, trembling, working very hard on controlling the jumble of emotions inside of him. There was anger, concern, disappointment … and jealousy. He shook his head gingerly as if to still the emotional storm and rustle his mind into place again. Then his shoulders slumped and his soft blue gaze met a very worried Gwaine's anxious brown eyes.

"Look, I'm sorry, Gwaine. Of course, you didn't mean any harm."

A huge feeling of relief washed through Gwaine, who was half expecting his old friend to punch the other side of his jaw too. Well, why not – that would have provided him a certain balance in the pain.

Yet, the night was young, Gwaine realised, when Merlin noticed the girl's vacant eyes and how her body was gently pitching on her legs.

"Oh, **nice**!" Merlin cried, "what did you go get her drunk for?"

"Again – I did not! She grabbed that tankard and downed it before I had a chance to stop her!" Gwaine was already raising his hand to protect his chin. Merlin was leering at him, trying to figure out if he told the truth or not. Then he closed his eyes and seemed to disappear into himself for a moment and when he opened his eyes, they were soft again.

"All right. I believe you," he sighed, "I'll just … take her back to Gaius and have a serious talk with her."

"Don't be too hard on her," Gwaine said sympathetically, "after all – she's been through a lot."

Well, Merlin thought, for how long could they use that excuse? He hoped to god she would learn – soon.

x

As Merlin led a hiccuping and zig-zagging Aithusa home with him, he felt her hand reach for his and a somewhat inebriated mind talking to him.

_Have I be hic haved badly?_

_Yes – but you were not to know._

_Well_... her answer came a little hesitatingly, _I did know that it was bad hup going after Gwaine_. Merlin looked at her in surprise. _And yet you did it anyway? _He felt her giggle girlishly. _Yes, he is … attractive_. Merlin was now staring at her in disbelief, his heart thumping in growing anger again. _Aithusa, you really, really need to control those hormones of yours_. She pouted! She actually pouted. The sight was outlandish. _I don't see why I should. I am young and hic healthy and __**he **__thought I was … beauticful._

_What do you mean? Who doesn't think you're beautiful?_

_None of your hup business!_

_We'll talk in the morning – when you're more approachable._

_I'm very approachable – just ask Gwaine._

_AITHUSA!_

The odd couple continued their way back to the castle, the warlock steering the girl's unsteady walk and the same girl giving him the silence treatment. Aithusa was clearly annoyed with him over something. Merlin would have to find out what it was.

x

The night had been terrible for the young dragon, yet had taught her an important lesson: never ever overdo drinking and particularly not the mead that was in Gwaine's tankard. Wrapped up in a blanket and with Merlin's cool hand on her aching brow, Aithusa had become best friends with a bucket right next to the cot, repeating just about every meal she had had during the day. As much as Merlin suffered with her, he couldn't quite resist the temptation to remind her of the same lesson.

"So how are you, Aithusa?"

_I want to die_, came the prompt and pitiful reply as she leaned over and hurled again.

"How did you come to feel this way again?"

There was no answer, but Merlin swore than he was sent a particularly reptilian squint.

x

The following days Aithusa's vocal abilities quickly increased. Her drunken episode had had the distinct advantage that she had become most adamant not to touch anything alcoholic. _Thank god for small favours_, Merlin thought; he felt as if he could breathe more freely. Once in a while during nights, they went to the forest where she transmogrified into her true form and made the air her playground. It was during such time that Merlin realised that she had never tried pronouncing words as a dragon, and it occurred to him that this skill was just as vital as being able to speak while in a human form. The young warlock sighed. It meant, obviously, that her playground would not stay completely lesson-free.

However, Aithusa soon put his mind to ease when she showed him how she could transform her larynx, making it possible for her to practise speech as a dragon as well as a human.

Merlin smiled at her. "You are a true wonder, Aithusa. I'm not sure that Camelot deserves you."

The human dragon cocked her head, bird-like and then smiled back at him.

Then she demonstrated her skill further by reaching out a claw that quickly turned into a human arm, taking her dragonlord's hand in hers. Merlin rose and led himself be lifted off the ground willingly. This time she had a surprise for him as she morphed into a pegasus horse, her strong arms placing him on her back before they were turned into front legs with hooves. Merlin yelled loudly with intense joy and spread out his arms. This was happiness. This was what it felt mastering the sky. The warlock bent over the horse's velvety mane and wrapped his arms round its neck. "One day," he said to her, "Camelot will allow magic and creatures like us doing what we do best. One day, Aithusa."

The horse underneath him blew in response and the dragon within projected: _I will help you realise that dream. I will be there for you, oh, My Lord._

Merlin stroked the white horse's coat lovingly. At that particular moment, he felt that with this creature by his side, there was nothing he couldn't do.

x

Three weeks later, Merlin felt confident enough to take Aithusa to King Arthur. The King had begun to growl a bit at Merlin not being round all the time, and the manservant hoped it would soon be time to cut his ward a little more slack. She had been behaving exemplary the past week, only eating prepared meat, ignoring passing pets, not throwing herself at knights or others to her liking and developing her spoken language with an impressive haste. More importantly, though, her social skills were coming along nicely as well; she had learned etiquette, colloquial expressions and which subjects to approach and which not to. Admittedly, Merlin and Gaius would still be surprised at some of the things she might mention when in company with humans. The knights, for instance, did not hide their surprise when one day she approached them to find out the best way to kill someone when using a man-made weapon. Most of the knights simply took her for a spirited girl, and only Gwaine tended to avoid her.

Then one day the King received the young girl in his quarters. Arthur sent her a welcoming smile, being somewhat curious as to see this young girl that Merlin had taken under his wings.

Aithusa performed her courtesy admirably and though her speech was a little slurred and oddly pronounced, Arthur conversed with her, relaxed and impressed. The King slapped Merlin on his shoulder on the way out.

"Out**stan**ding, Merlin," he said, "excellent job! I congratulate you - **now **will you return to full duties?"

"If I can take her with me?" Merlin suggested, knowing full well what the answer would be.

"Eeerrm … perhaps not," Arthur said, squinting at her obvious beauty, "all right, you don't have to resume all duties right away. Let's say, gradually, then, and let's see what happens."

Merlin grinned and closed the King's door after him, infinitely happy that the meeting had gone well.

That same night, Aithusa lay awake on her cot. Her lord, Merlin, had announced that she was now a 'good girl', being acknowledged and accepted by the King, no less. Truth be told, Aithusa wasn't very interested in King Arthur. She knew, of course, that he was the key to Albion, but her allegiance lay with her dragonlord. Her very first memory of life was his voice, calling out her name, her personality. _Aithusa_. The way he said it still made ripples of emotions flow through her mind and body. _Aithusa_. As a dragon, that had been vital for the continued bond between them. This was what made them … one.

Aithusa's transparent eyes closed slowly. She didn't sleep that much as a dragon, but she keenly felt how her human body craved it. She had also been dreaming. Gradually her dreams had gone from reptilian to human, showing her human shapes and making her feel human emotions and senses: hands on her skin, taste in her mouth, scent in her nose, sound in her ears, vision to her eyes. Senses. Every time she felt his hands on her skin, she sensed … her name; her name in the way he said it. _Aithusa_.

xxx

**TBC – PLEASE REVIEW, REVIEW!**


	3. The Physical Aspect

**Disclaimers**: Belongs to the BBC.

**A/N:** All right, so I couldn't resist it: Action coming up! Not until the end, though. Before that, some Merthusa fluff that I hope Merthusa fans will like. Horse stuff: I was riding horses a lot when I was young, so that should check out. Mind you, there might be a difference between British riding and Danish. I'm sure all you avid horse girls out there will tell me if that is the case.

One last thing: Merlin might be unforgivably thick in this chapter, but then, some people are in certain situations.

And remember: PLEASE TELL ME HOW YOU LIKE IT! :-)

CHAPTER 5

**The physical aspect**

One misty morning where all shapes and forms and their contours seemed blurred and obscure, Gwen took Aithusa to the monthly Camelot market that entailed not only booths with food, but also with fabric, kitchenware, furniture, livestock and exotic items from abroad. Jugglers, jesters, bards and acrobats were performing their arts in the square, being particularly careful as the fog made safety increasingly difficult for them. The young girl blinked and focussed on the blurred activity with fascination, but most of the time, she could identity what was going on. Until she came across something that looked like dancing – except it wasn't human dancing. She saw huge animals with an odd spine and flowing hair and something that looked like ribbons, lifting their legs high, some long tails swishing too and fro; the movement was elegant, graceful and they appeared to perform coordinated patterns of movement. Curious to the bone, Aithusa moved closer, towing a laughing Gwen after her.

As she approached and the shapes became clearer through the mist, she suddenly recognised what they were. Horses with riders! Riders performing something called dressage, Gwen explained.

The kind of control the rider had over his steed intrigued the young dragon. One thing was a human dragging along a cow and whistling at a dog, or even the knight urging his horse on to collide with another knight and horse in combat. This was one body being the prolonged version of another, completely different species and she wanted to try that!

"You want to learn dressage?"

Merlin looked at Aithusa with disbelief.

"Why not?" she asked.

"No reason," Merlin shrugged, though the disturbing image of a dragon riding a horse pressed on his mind. "But you can't use magic or mind control," he warned her.

"I know," she said softly. This was what fascinated her so. How humans managed this without mind powers or magic.

"And it takes a long time," he warned her, "this is not something you can just mount a horse and do."

"I have time," she said, her eyes shining in anticipation.

"Well," Merlin acquiesced, "if it's really important to you, I'll make some time for it. I can teach you how to ride a horse. The complicated dressage and High School, we need an expert for."

Aithusa clapped her hands, happy. "Dank you, dank you," she grinned widely, still having problems with the 'th'-sound when her emotions ran high.

x

The next day, the fog had dissolved and Merlin and Aithusa prepared to head out of town. Merlin knew a particularly flat meadow where they could practise. He wasn't too keen on taking her to the riding ground for everyone to see; who knew what would escape from her mouth if, for instance, the horse threw her?

The warlock had chosen a very calm and steady horse instead of the one he himself usually rode, hoping thus that her first time on horseback would prove a success.

The first challenge was to mount the beastie as he had to mount it first for her to sit behind him. This meant teaching her first.

"This is "Black Fury"," he explained. She looked at the horse with her eyebrow cocked. It was certainly black, but she had trouble connecting "fury" with the bleary-eyed and half sleeping beast in front of her. She bent to see the gender of it. "Its balls are gone," she announced loudly. Merlin laughed, his hue a little red as a result of her straightforward statement.

"Yes, he has been fixed. That is why he's so pliant." Merlin took Aithusa by her arm and led her to the front of the horse. "Now, touch his muzzle and say hello to him. Horses are not comfortable with being mounted by people they haven't met."

The girl reached out a tentative hand, mulling over this new piece of information. She had practised turning into a horse often enough, but she had no idea how an equestrian mind worked.

The muzzle was warm to the touch and very, very soft, it quivered as she stroked it, its huge nostrils eliciting the beast's warm breath. Black Fury blew softly and chewed his bridle.

"There," Merlin said softly, "you are now acquainted and … he likes you."

Gratified and sporting a wide smile, Aithusa continued to pat the horse until Merlin called for her to join him to the horse's left side by the saddle.

"Now, the best way to do this is if you practise getting up and down, and when you're comfortable with that, I get up and help you to join me."

Following his instructions, Aithusa finally put her left foot in the left stirrup, an exercise she knew would land her with sore sinews and muscles the next day. She grabbed the pommel of the saddle, a good strong grip, and …. came nowhere. Then she felt Merlin's strong hands round her waist.

"First time can be difficult," he soothed her, "one needs to push off the ground with some force."

She tried again and with Merlin's supporting hands managed to mount … half a horse. She puffed. This was a lot harder than it looked. Then she started softly, feeling her dragonlord's hand on her behind as he pushed her the rest of the way. "Up there, missy!" he cried encouragingly. She was about to scoot down on the other side of the horse when Merlin's firm hand halted her. This was definitely **a lot **harder than it looked.

"You all right?" he asked in concern. She nodded, not really having the energy to speak as she clung to the horse's mane. Finding one's balance on a narrow leather seat was something that had to be learned as well, despite her magnificent body control in the air.

"Don't worry," Merlin said briskly, "this will become second nature in no time." She nodded again, face pale and expression rigid.

"Right. Down you go. We'll try this again. Now, you let go of both stirrups. That way you don't risk hanging in one, stuck, if the horse suddenly bolts," he explained."Done that? Good. Now grab the pommel and swing your leg over the horse's croup – you are not to touch him, some horses are croup ticklish – and grab the cantle and let yourself slide down the side of the horse."

Aithusa came down far more quickly than she had anticipated, but Merlin was prepared for that. He supported her body while maintaining a firm grip on the horse's reins, not that he needed the latter; Black Fury, being more than used to beginners, hadn't batted an eyelid. The last few inches to the ground made Aithusa wince, her heels unprepared for the impact with the cobble stones, but Merlin's arm round her waist instantly stilled her. She huffed a little. That arm of his felt very, very strong … yet gentle. _Calm down, Aithusa_, she chastised herself, recognising the feeling, _now is not the time_.

Eventually, she got it right and getting up and down became easier. When Merlin was satisfied, he mounted the horse himself and reached out to help the young girl join him on the back of the horse. Then slowly and steadily, they walked out of town, Aithusa clutching him for dear life pretty much the same way he had hung on to her during their nightly flights.

x

The meadow was soft and not too muddy. Ideal for horseback training, Merlin decided as he helped Aithusa slide down from behind him. He had brought a lunge so that if he later estimated that she was ready for independent riding, it would still be safe.

For now, he was giving her a break; the short ride, thought merely walking, had already given her a sore bottom, he smiled at the sight of her as she stood there, rubbing her behind. It looked endearing … and … Merlin suddenly blushed and turned round, confused with the nature of a sudden rush of … feelings. Out loud, his voice cracking a bit, he said: "You should sit down in the soft grass before we continue. It will do you good."

Merlin turned and saw, to his relief, that she had stopped rubbing her derrière and was now sitting down. Unfortunately, that looked lovely too, Aithusa with her lithe frame, long white golden hair, her water blue eyes and in her lovely blue dress in the middle of daffodils, bluebells and heather. Merlin steeled himself. _She is my ward, student and protégée. _Getting a grip, Merlin took the horse and came closer to her. They might as well use the break for theory.

"See," he said, "the horse doesn't understand human language, so you'll have to communicate your requests for him in a different way."

Aithusa beamed, her toothy smile flashing among the flowers. "That is what I wish to learn," she said, nodding in anticipation.

"Good," Merlin said, satisfied, "motivation is important, "you communicate with the horse by physical means. For instance, balance. When you lean to your right, the horse will turn right and vice versa."

The dragon girl moped, "If I lean to the right, I fall to the right."

Merlin laughed out loud at her sharp logic. "Then balance is what you learn first."

Balance class it was. Aithusa mounted the horse again, Merlin having a secure grip on the horse's rein and the next hour (after they managed to wake up Black Fury and keep him from grazing), he showed her how to keep the balance without clutching the pommel, let go of the stirrups while still sitting on the horse, lean into a turn and lie down on the horse's back without rolling off. Of course, the latter was not taught without biting the dust. Fortunately, Aithusa rolled to the left side where Merlin was and he thus managed to catch her halfway down and break the fall, the two of them rolling into the long, soft grass. When the rolling motion stopped, Merlin ended on top of her and instantly his concerned gaze swept over her slim form. "Are you all right, are you okay?" he muttered, one hand quickly sliding down her frame to check for fractures. A slow smile spread over the young girl's features, but she never offered him a reply. "Answer me," he urged and looked into her face … recognising the feral expression which made him retract on the spot. He stood, clearing his voice. "You … appear to be all right. Now, if you feel you can stand, we can continue."

As he turned to retrieve Black Fury who hadn't gone far (merely as far as the next green turf), Aithusa suppressed a happy little tinkle of giggles. That felt good. That felt more than good. Perhaps she should fall off more often.

At the end of the day, Merlin felt the whole séance had been one great conundrum. Aithusa had started out so promisingly, yet soon appeared to lose her balance every other second, usually ending up rolling in the grass with what appeared to be a huge expectant grin. In the end, he gave up catching her, particularly as it seemed that her sturdy bones remained intact every time.

As they walked home, her long arms wrapped round him firmly, the warlock very much doubted that these riding lessons would lead anywhere. Ostensibly she had had fun, but he seriously doubted her sincerity in learning how to ride.

Still … he would give it one more try the next week and then make a decision.

x

As days went by, Aithusa continuously expressed a wish to be with Merlin during his chores. She was sure she could help him finish earlier, making more time for them to practise horseback riding. The warlock looked at her eager face; so she did really want to learn riding .. or what? Actually, he wasn't quite sure what she wanted. However, as she stood there in front of him with those big, pleading eyes and that soft, quivering mouth, Merlin found that he simply could not resist her request. First, though, he would have to get permission from the King. After all, only the King's servant was allowed in his quarters.

"I don't know, Merlin," Arthur said, his eyes conveying uncertainty, "you're clumsy enough for two – what if she, being your family, takes after you?" The last part was said with a crooked grin. The King was teasing Merlin and Merlin felt he was in no position to tease back. After all, he needed a favour. Instead, he cocked his eyebrows.

"No, no – I guarantee you she's much more … coordinated than I am."

"That's not saying much," Arthur said dryly, relishing the fact that – for once – Merlin wasn't getting back at him.

"Look at it this way," Merlin pointed out, "if she's allowed to join me doing my chores, I can return to full duty."

Arthur crossed his arms, leaning back behind his desk. "But I'm actually enjoying my time off from you. George has been filling in for you, and after I put a ban on brass-jokes under the penalty of excruciatingly painful death, he's quite acceptable."

"Well …. good. Then you don't mind me taking tomorrow off entirely?"

Arthur smiled that uncanny smile at him that warned Merlin that some kind of cruel assignment was on its way: "Certainly, Merlin – as soon as you have polished my armour, using only your breath, washed my floor with a toothbrush, taken down my curtains, mucked out my stables, sharpened my ..."

"I get the drift!" Merlin said quickly. "I guess Aithusa just has to cry herself to sleep, then, her beautiful blue eyes all swollen and red."

The King sent him a deadly glance. "That was below the belt, Merlin," he murmured through clenched teeth.

The manservant nodded, a huge smile on his lean face. Yeah, it was, but all in war and love was fair, in his opinion.

The following morning, the dragon joined her dragonlord, who was already at King Arthur's chambers. The King had left for combat practice, which was a prerequisite for her being there. The rooms were no surprise to her; she remembered them well from her audience with the King. Thoughtfully, she went to the bed where crumbled sheets and blankets lay helter skelter. She wrinkled her nose.

"Does he not know how to make his bed?" she asked. Her voice was not scornful, merely curious.

Merlin chuckled in delight, "I doubt it. But even if he could, he wouldn't. That's why royalty and nobles have servants, remember?"

She was frowning. He could see she didn't quite get the concept. Then she proceeded to the table where remains of breakfast and silverware were lying in an unruly heap. She opened her mouth, doubtlessly about to put forward a similar question, then clamped her mouth shut, concluding, quite rightly too, that the answer would be as similar as the question. Without another word, therefore, she reached out and helped Merlin remove the remains and clean the table.

They both cleaned the rest of the room quite quickly. Merlin had been right – with the help of a now highly proficient dragon, chores were done fast and efficiently. Only when they prepared the water for the floor washing did he catch her cheat a bit when she emitted a long flame that very quickly heated the water, making the soap bubble cheerfully in the wooden bucket. _Careful!_ he projected at her. She smiled back at him, knowing full well that if she hadn't done this, he would have, using his own powers.

While Aithusa finished the floor, Merlin had taken the King's sword, preparing to sharpen it. He could either take it to the tack room where more proper remedies for sharpening, just as a grindstone, were stacked, or he could use the whetstone in Arthur's chambers. Not keen on having whatever knights present in the tack room meet Aithusa, he opted for taking out the whetstone right there and then and started whetting the stone against the side of the sword edge.

It slipped! And blood immediately started rushing out of Merlin's right hand. He swore, then stopped himself, remembering that he was not alone.

A small cry escaped Aithusa and she leapt to him, gently taking his wounded hand in both of hers. The heavy drops of bright red blood fell to the newly washed floor where it spread over the soapy surface of the flagged floor. Had she still been reptilian, the colour would have excited her. Now, however, she was human and found herself to be infinitely concerned.

"You are hurt," she said, her voice sounding very soft even in her own ears. "It's nothing, really," Merlin said, his voice just as soft. "Tell me what to do," she said, still cradling the hand.

"Oh, it just needs to be cleaned and..."

He almost yelped when she opened her mouth and closed her full, soft lips round the wound. He felt how her tongue connected with his skin and started lapping it, like an animal cleaning its own or a pack member's injury.

It shouldn't have had the impact on him that it did. It shouldn't have left a funny tingle in his belly and a stirring in his groin. It just shouldn't. Yet it did and he couldn't help himself as he emitted a longing groan as she kept licking his hand. _Am I hurting you?_ She projected.

"No, no," he huffed, "you're doing … _good_. But it should be bandaged now. You'll find some in the cupboard."

Obediently, she quickly left him and went to get the bandages. When she got back, he had bled over his trousers and the floor and she grabbed his hand again with a worried exclamation as she led his hand to her mouth again. Another groan left the young warlock's quivering lips that were getting redder by the second. This could not continue, he decided and gently pushed her sweet face away and wrapped the wound himself with the bandage she had fetched for him.

The rest of the chores could not have been finished without Aithusa's help. The cut had been so deep that every pressure on the hand had hurt Merlin markedly. As soon as they reached Gaius' quarters, the dragon girl tore off the bandage and without asking, licked the wound again. This time, the wound closed and healed immediately.

"You changed your saliva to dragon spit!" Merlin exclaimed, not knowing whether to scold her her or thank her. Aithusa decided that the latter would be appropriate. "You are welcome," she said firmly, clearly communicating that this matter was closed. Merlin looked up, a little surprised at the edge in her voice. Perhaps the work had been too much for her?

With the best of intentions, Merlin said: "Perhaps you shouldn't join me at work tomorrow, Aithusa. You're working hard here at Gaius' lab as it is."

However, his considerate remark had exactly the opposite effect on the young girl. She stiffened, her back rigid, and said formally: "If you say so, My Lord," and turned on her heel, banging the door to his room behind her with a fervour. Merlin remained behind, blinking in complete confusion, not knowing what had hit him.

x

The same night Merlin decided to take her to her special 'dragon spot'. The chores at Arthur's chambers had, for some reason, left her tense and her off-time as a dragon would release that tension, he felt sure.

Yet even on one of their mutual flight sessions, Aithusa remained taciturn. He leaned forward in an attempt to get closer to her head. Silly, he knew, as he might as well have projected his request at her.

"Aithusa, can you land on the spot by the lake over there?" he cried, pointing down. They had gone quite far from Camelot and one scenic lake after the other, the sharp moonlight reflected in the waters, appeared underneath them like shiny pearls on a string. Without a word, the white dragon turned sharply to the right and made for a steep dive that made the warlock wrap his arms round her neck for support. Yup. Something was definitely wrong between them and he was hell bent on figuring out what.

She put them down close to the shore of the lake, the water reflections catching the smoothness of her flashing scales. The water was still, the silhouettes clear against the dark blue night sky and only once in a while one could hear small nightly creatures rustle the twigs and leaves of the forest floor. Other than that, it was quiet.

Merlin sighed as he slid down from her neck; he turned round to find that she had already turned back into her human form, completely naked in the moonlight. He swallowed and took off his jacket. "Could you please … cover yourself?" he asked, holding out the jacket. One thing was seeing her naked briefly when she morphed between shapes, another was sitting in front of her for a longer chat. Her eyes, however, flashed angrily at him and she never took the offered piece of clothes.

"Why? Why can you not accept me in whatever shape I am? Do you not like the sight of me? Do you not think me beautiful?"

He looked at her in immense surprise, her nakedness forgotten. "What are you talking about? You're beautiful! That's one of the reasons why you must cover yourself. We've been over this before."

"That is for other people. But you are my _**dragonlord**_. I should not cover myself for you," she argued, tears of anger stinging in her eyes.

"Aithusa," Merlin sighed, "I may be your dragonlord, but I am also a man. I become … embarrassed when I see naked women."

"I thought men enjoyed looking at nudes," she said, frowning in an attempt to understand that particular side of humans.

The warlock bit his lip. How to explain this?

He never got the chance. Absorbed by their conversation, they never heard the sound in time. A rough voice rang out the clear night, uttering words as a searing sarcasm to their issue.

"We _**love **_seeing nudes!" ... and immediately this crude statement was followed up by eight men who stormed out of the bushes with a vengeance. Merlin was instantly clobbered on the head, falling to the ground, out cold, before he could do anything to protect them, and two ruffians grabbed Aithusa by both arms. The young girl fought back, her surprisingly strong arms jerking the two assailants back and forth like they were rag dolls. Realising she couldn't shake them off of her in the undercover way her dragonlord probably would have preferred, a deep rumble began reverberating from her stomach, until …

… the leader of the pack brought a knife to her unconscious dragonlord's neck. She froze, immediately recognising what that meant.

"That's right," the burly man hissed, "you get the drift: Either you behave or we slice your lover's throat." His hungry glance went over her unclothed form that was now shivering violently. "What'll it be, pumpkin?"

xxx

**TBC – review, review, review – PLZ!**


	4. Stealth Issues

**Disclaimers**: YAWN – you know already!

**A/N**: Thanx, XAOTL Omega, again, for your inspiring review. You are the best! As a token of my appreciation, here is the fourth instalment. Stand by for some mild bondage and sexual innuendo.

CHAPTER 6

**Stealth issues**

"Keogh," was the one syllable that the leader let out. Instantly a somewhat thinner man walked over and landed a very hard uppercut on their prey's chin, knocking her out on the spot. Aithusa's petite form went still.

"That's better," said the burly man, "now I can work. Put her down, boys, and spread those lovely thighs for me."

The men obeyed with an impressive efficiency, clearly having been through this process before. The dragon girl's now limp body was slumped on the damp forest floor and the two men who had held her arms now relinquished these extremities in favour of her legs that they pried apart. Their leader discarded his leather glove and knelt between her separated legs. Then without preamble he shoved up his hand, feeling his way with chubby fingers. Aithusa groaned and moved.

"She's already waking up," the leader said, surprise evident in his hardened and callused face. He retracted his hand, "sturdier than she looks, isn't she? Well, no matter. She's a virgin all right and you know what that means."

The men knew exactly what that meant. It meant that they would lose their balls if their leader caught them ruining their investment, breaking this much coveted commodity. An intact slave woman was worth a lot more than one who was not. Some of the ruffians grumbled in disappointment, but not for long: There would be other slave women for their enjoyment to come as there had been before.

Tying up both of them, the slave trader and his men took possession of their new items and proceeded to make their way through the darkness to their camp. It had been a good night's work.

x

_Merlin!_

The world was still and calm, endless and colourless.

_Merlin!_

Sounds non-existent and thoughts dulled.

_Merlin!_

Feelings were … unpleasant. He sensed that there was something he had to do.

_MERLIN!_

Yup. That was it!

Merlin's eyes popped open rather suddenly, obeying the intense call in his mind. Aithusa!

_Aithusa!_

_Finally! Where are you?_

_Wait_, the warlock winced, squinting, a dull ache spreading from the back of his head to his brow. He was shiverish cold to the bone and the floor felt hard and icy to the touch of his legs. Legs? And that's when he realised with sarcastic joy: Nice. I'M STARKERS! Sighing loudly at that revelation, he opened his eyes wide again, blinking, and tried assessing his very dark and hard to make out surroundings.

_In a dungeon cell_, he managed.

_So am I. How are you?_

He keenly felt her concern through the bond, but for him, not for herself.

_Sore. How about you? What did they do to you?_

_I appear to be unhurt. They chained me to the wall, a metal collar round my neck._

Metal collar? Merlin fumbled for his own neck.

_Me too, it would seem._

_It is not a problem_, Aithusa declared. _I will be out in no time._

_Aithusa – no!_

Puzzlement. _Why not?_

_They do not expect a wee girl to be able to break the chains. If you do, they will figure out that you are more than you appear to be. Your identity must be kept a secret._

_Then what do you suggest?_

_That I break free – in a convincing way. Stay put and wait for me, but call me if they hurt you._

He felt her nod. Then her end of the bond fell silent and Merlin concentrated on sitting up.

This proved at lot more difficult than expected. His eyes finally having adapted to the darkness, he now saw that he was in a very small cell, more like a niche than a room, and that the chain between him and the wall was very short. That was the bad news. The good news was that his captors, apparently, had thought that the neck collar was more than enough to secure such a frail looking boy that they hadn't bothered to close the door. This would make things easier, Merlin thought with satisfaction.

Merlin turned his head as much as he could to ascertain the state of the chain. Damn. It was a sound chain – devoid of rust and other corrosion that might otherwise explain his coming escape. Well, then there was the wall …

A few seconds later the sorcerer left the dungeon niche where he had been confined. Behind him lay shattered bricks and pebbles and round his neck was still the metal collar, complete with chain and a piece of brick attached to it. It felt heavy round his skinny neck and the clanging of the chain was difficult to still against his naked skin when he moved, but it would have to do.

_Aithusa. Where are you?_

The dragon girl answered immediately. _I know no more than I did before_, she informed him. Merlin swore under his breath. Having absolutely no knowledge of the place they had been taken to, the warlock simply had to try one cell after the other until, hopefully, he would find his missing dragon girl. They couldn't risk calling out loud to each other.

The corridor he was following was somewhat damp and almost completely dark; this indicated that it was still night. Unless they had been out for so long that another 24 hrs had passed. Merlin thought not, though – a tell-tale growl from his belly would have alerted him that considerable time had passed if this had been so.

A sharp pain rippled through his exposed body and forced out a high pitched hiss from the sorcerer. Stubbing his toe in the darkness rapidly convinced him that he had to have some kind of light, no matter the risk. If he kept it between his hands, the illuminative effect would, hopefully, be muted enough for him continue undiscovered. Covering his mouth with his hand, he thus breathed into his palm, whispering _**forbearnan**_. As the flame grew from his skin, he instantly closed his other hand over it, reducing its light to a faint shimmer, just enough to keep him from knocking over each and every item in the corridor. A few seconds later, he noticed another cell, one somewhat bigger than the one he had found himself in when he woke up. The door was locked, leaving only a very small peep hole in the middle that allowed him to peer through. Empty. Merlin hurried on, quickly locating another, but equally empty cell. Then the corridor turned right and steps had to be climbed to reach a higher level. The light was not enough for Merlin to avoid stubbing his toe every other second while feeling his way up the stairs, but he did manage to reach the other level without bleeding, at least. The upper corridor seemed less dark, compliments to small openings right underneath the ceiling where a small amount of moonlight streamed in and Merlin quickly quelled his palm flame, hoping to god that the natural light would be enough for him to manoeuvre reasonably safely between the stone walls.

_Aithusa? Do you hear anything? Anything at all?_

_Heavy breathing_, she projected. Merlin smiled widely, encouraged. She could actually hear him breathe; he must be very close to her. Eager and impatient, the young warlock glanced through each and every peep hole he came across; it was only a matter of time …

Aithusa's heart almost stopped beating from excitement when she heard the heavy key turn plaintively in the door's padlock. He was there! He had found her! Being the cautious covert sorcerer that he was, he had found a key to avoid using magic to open the door of her dungeon cell.

Her heart dancing with joy, Aithusa watched the wooden door being pushed open to allow …

… one of her captors.

Obviously, it hadn't been Merlin breathing in the corridor.

x

He didn't understand. She said she had heard him breathing, and yet he had been up and down this corridor twice now without finding her. Two of the cells had contained livestock, sheep that baaed silently in the darkness, one had contained a newly dead slave and the others had been empty. No Aithusa! How could she have heard his breathing, then?

And that's when it occurred to him with a chill travelling down his naked spine as the shock exploded in him: Aithusa had heard somebody **else's** breathing!

Safety be damned, Merlin bolted through the corridor and onto another staircase.

Blinking in the sudden light that the intruder had brought with him as he opened the door, she recognised him at once. He had been with the group of goons that had apprehended Merlin and herself by the lake, standing behind the leader, his small rat eyes gawking at her until somebody hit her on the jaw, and now he was here – gawking at her again. He was about twice her height and four times her weight; not fat, but bulky and strong; very strong. His eyes, dark with desire, were bulging as they travelled up and down her delectable naked frame, hungrily taking in every inch of her faultless skin and graceful features from her sleek toes over her silky golden pubic patch between her legs to her watery fairy eyes and white golden hair.

He really didn't scare her. She could roast him with one breath if she chose to. No, the challenge here was how to immobilise him without giving away her powers and identity. Perhaps an idea would be to lure him closer and transform one tooth into a fang complete with snake venom. That might be plausible as the snake could have just wiggled away before the others found him.

Whilst one possibility after the other presented itself in Aithusa's rational mind, the randy slave trader started talking, drool literally starting to dribble down his unshaven chin.

"Oh, … you are lovely, puppet. Perfect skin and shiny hair. So perty. They will never find you, my precious. I must have you. How are they going to prove who it was anyway?"

Aithusa cocked her head, a little confused as to what he was talking about. Who of these ruffians would care one way or the other if he raped her? Wasn't that the idea of their abduction of her?

Then suddenly his eyes widened in pure undiluted lust and he stepped forward, reaching her in one long leap. Driven by an insatiable desire to possess the vision in front of him, he grabbed one of her perfectly rounded breasts, cupping it and squeezing it none too gently. Aithusa emitted a little squeal and pressed herself up against the cold stone surface of the wall. The goon followed her movement and pressed himself tightly onto her body, almost covering it entirely. He never saw the eerie transformation of her human pupils into reptilian ones. But then, nor did he notice the warlock behind him.

x

Aithusa's glance was fixed on the assailant as he slumped to the floor, lifeless and limp, empty eyes staring into nothingness after the lightening bolt had hit the back of his skull from behind. Then she looked back at her dragonlord, who, just as bereft of clothes as she was, was standing behind the fallen enemy. "I did not think we were allowed to use sorcery," she pointed out with a crooked grin that revealed a little more fang action than it usually did. Arthur's tall, lanky squire shrugged non-committedly. "As long as he didn't see me do it."

The young dragon sniggered as she stepped over the unconscious slaver and they both exited the cell. Merlin had opened her and his own collar with the slaver's key and they were now tip-toeing out of the dungeons. Probably in vain, Merlin thought ruefully, as somebody must surely have heard the crack of the lightening bolt at least.

Holding his hand, Aithusa couldn't help revelling in his touch .. and his body. She hadn't seen Merlin naked before and though she hadn't so far understood why humans put so much importance in being either clothed or naked, she now saw how it could make a difference. A big difference. In fact, she couldn't tear her eyes away from the way her dragonlord's round, smooth and almost ghostly white buttocks clenched and relaxed in the process of walking, the way his smooth nape was connected with his sculpted shoulders. Like the goon before her, she involuntarily started drooling. A little startled at her own reaction, she quickly labbed the juice up from her chin before her dragonlord noticed anything. Attempting to divert her wickedly wandering mind, she began practising the Latin names of the healing herbs that Gaius had tried to teach her. _Acorus calamus_, _Aywain Seed _(seed, that's right) – errrm, _Prunella vulgris L_. (vulgar? Her thoughts? - CONCENTRATE), _Andrographis penisco _… I mean … _panicolata_!

It definitely wasn't working, Aithusa had to conclude. By now, she couldn't stop gawking at a certain reproductive organ that, partially erected, was moving from side to side between Merlin's thighs as they hurried through the corridor. What was worse, Merlin easily felt her frustration.

_What is it with you?_ He projected. _You're somewhere else and you should be here, concentrating on our current predicament._

_I was … just wondering how we get out of here._

_You're lying to me!_

_NOW IS NOT THE TIME_, she projected frantically.

As it turned out, she couldn't have been more right. The next step over a threshold might lead them outside and into the open … but it also led them right into the middle of the slaver's drinking party.

Merlin couldn't believe it. How could he have missed this? Surely the noise from the drunken goons must have reached his brain somehow. Cursing, he blamed his focus on Aithusa's lack of concentration. _This is entirely my own fault!_

The warlock had never felt so vulnerable and exposed. One wrong turn had landed himself and the young girl he was trying to protect dead centre in an enemy party, complete with barrels of mead, wild boars roasted on a spear and an ongoing orgy entailing the slavers themselves and their defenceless prey, both male and female, stripped to service their captors before sold on to their next masters.

As for getting out of there discreetly? They were screwed!

x

A big burly man stepped forward and broke the trance they had all entered upon seeing the naked twosome storm into their midst and said with a huge grin:

"I have no idea how you two came loose, but you sure picked the wrong door to go through."

Merlin felt Aithusa squeezing his hand and her anger travel through the bond. _He is the leader_, she informed him silently, _he threatened your life when you had been rendered unconscious._

"_**Oh no!"**_ Merlin hissed in intense fear. The head goon had threatened his life and Aithusa had witnessed it? The goon in question misunderstood the sorcerer's reaction and nodded, still sporting a cynical and sadistic grin on his hardened lips.

"Well put, young slave. The girl goes untouched – her price as a virgin will, after all, bring us a substantial sum of money – but now that you have come to, you and your lovely pale skin are more than welcome to join our little celebration. In fact, ..." the burly man continued, his eyes narrowing in avid and evident concupiscence as his eyes ran over the young boy's young form, taking in every delicious detail, "... I insist."

Merlin felt how her hand clenched his even harder. A flash of rage licked its flames along their bond, almost taking away his breath with its display of sheer power. Desperately, he tried to quell it. _Now, now, Aithusa – you must control yourself..._

… and that was as far as he got. Before he even had a chance of engaging his dragon tongue, he saw the faces in front of him transform their expression of lust into one of violent shock and deep fear, and he knew then it was too late.

In front of the slave traders stood one naked manservant – and one huge and furious dragon with razor sharp claws, burning eyes and Hell's flames licking out of her large mouth.

"Oh, … crap," the warlock murmured. The one second it took him to open his mouth with a view to utter ancient Greek and harness his rogue dragon was the one second it took Aithusa to roast the entire group of ruffians.

"_**Stand down**_," he roared at her in dragon tongue, way too late, he realised as he watched the human torches scream and tumble over in boundless pain and terror. The slaves were left unharmed, naturally. However, Merlin knew very well how this would constitute a serious problem in terms of witnesses to Aithusa's spectacular transformation.

The dragon clamped her mouth shut and heeding her stern dragonlord's flashing eyes, she quickly morphed back into a human, looking down and finding her feet infinitely fascinating. Merlin put his fisted hands on his hips. "What **have **you done, girl!" Aithusa drew circles in the dust with her toe. "They were being mean to you," she murmured, embarrassed. The young desolate girl made for a strange contrast to the burning havoc and charred corpses she had evoked in her surroundings.

"I can take care of myself," Merlin argued, not being swayed by her obvious regret. She lifted an angry gaze at him in return, having recovered from her initial regret very, very quickly. "So what would you have done? Stared angrily at them, huh? You are so hell bent on keeping your cover that you would rather risk getting maimed than disclosed."

"IT IS NOT YOUR JOB TO WORRY ABOUT ME!"

"**YES, IT IS!"**

Head to head, eyes locked in a duel of wills, they didn't notice the figure until he was upon them. Merlin sensed rather than saw the danger to his dragon girl and acted accordingly and instinctively. His eyes flashed golden rather abruptly and instantly one of the slavers' short swords sailed through the air, impaling the approaching threat. Aithusa and Merlin looked at the body that fell with a dull thud, face first, into the ground. It was the slaver who had attacked Aithusa in the dungeon.

"Him!" the warlock said with disgust, "well, good riddance."

The young girl cocked an eyebrow at her dragonlord. "So is this what you call 'subtlety'?"

Merlin sighed, knowing full well that there was no easy answer to the conundrum of escaping a potentially volatile situation. He indicated the crouching, naked slaves that were huddling together, scared witless of what they had seen. "We need to address the problem of these poor people," he pointed out. She nodded. "Let us knock them out, dress them and return them to their villages."

Merlin looked at her with surprise. "And their knowledge of what passed here?" Aithusa smiled wickedly, "I am sure you can find a way to convince them that it was all a dream."

Merlin didn't answer at first. Oblivion-enchantments were unstable to say the least, however, removing them completely from what they had gone through would certainly support the illusion instilled in them.

Then the young sorcerer nodded. As Aithusa's ill-tempered and rash initiative obviously couldn't be undone, the oblivion-enchantment was, under the circumstances, the best solution.

The project took longer than they had anticipated. In the end, the day was breaking when the last villager had been delivered, fully clothed, injuries healed and his memory gently 'adjusted', to his home. This made it impossible for Aithusa to transmogrify into a dragon and make for a speedy return. Instead, upon reaching Dragoon's hut unseen, the two of them decided to spend the hours of daylight there, resting after the night's stressful activities. They would return to Camelot the following night, Merlin already working on a passable cover story that did **not** comprise a trip to the tavern.


	5. Hot Hut

**Disclaimers**: BBC owns it all. But I net they don't want to own this particular story. ;)

**A/N**: WARNING, WARNING, WARNING – SMUT GALORE AHEAD!

You have now been properly warned. Stay away if you're under 18 or find sexual references offending. Other than that, the smut is consensual and rather straight forward. No kinky stuff.

Please review and let me know if you like it.

CHAPTER 7

**Hot Hut**

It was past noon before Merlin woke up. His eyes blinking, he felt disorientated at first, then his glance went to the lithe figure that lay snuggled up against him in the crook of his arm and everything rushed back. Everything, including the fact that he had lain down on this cot alone. Aithusa had been occupying the much better bed in the adjourning room. As it was, they now lay very close in the narrow cot in the living room. If one could designate the hut's main room as "living" room, Merlin thought ironically, letting his glance scour the impressively dirty hut with broken equipment and worn furniture. Merlin looked down at his sleeping dragon. Having transformed into a mouse for the journey to the hut, she hadn't needed any clothing, merely a place in his pocket. He, on the other hand, had stripped one of the dead slavers, but found it so sickening, smelling of both death and charcoal, that he had abandoned it before lying down. Summa summarum; there he was; butt naked and close to an equally butt naked young girl. Though both of them being covered by a rather dirty, but sufficiently warm blanket, he could still see her round, deliciously smooth shoulder and the top of her milky shoulder blades surrounded by tight muscles, honed by flying high up in the sky, despite her human form. Her silkily soft hair lay spread over his own shoulder and the angle of her head just allowed for him to catch a glimpse of her white eyelashes as they threw a soft grew shade underneath her eyes. The sorcerer winced. Gawd, but she was lovely. There was a limit to how long he keep from reacting to her body. He was a man, for chrissakes.

Very, very slowly and very, very gently, Merlin lifted the arm that Aithusa rested upon. Her head rolled backwards first, then to the side where Merlin's left hand caught it round her slim nape as he gingerly lowered it to the mattress underneath them. The movement made her eyes flutter gently and her mouth quiver, the lips coming apart just a little bit, eliciting a tiny sigh. Merlin held his breath. This was not fair!

Was this a test? Was this Destiny taunting him, reminding him that Life is a struggle every, frigging day? She had come to him, all those months ago, in the infinite trust that he would take care of her, protect her, make her safe, and …

… and that's when she opened her eyes.

x

Merlin found that he had hadn't breathed for several seconds, his entire body and mind frozen in time as the two of them locked eyes, his apologetic and shocked at his own thoughts, and hers …

… hungry.

Hungry was the best word he could find for it. The young dragon girl was looking intently at him with the gaze of a predator; her pupils had gone reptily narrow, the focus eyeing her target, and when her lips came further apart, Merlin noticed that her canines had grown a little.

Aithusa let out a quivering breath. This was certainly the best way she could have woken up. To stare directly into the blue orbs of a man that she had had dreams about from the day she met him in Camelot. And when that luscious mouth dropped open and caused his full, soft-looking lips to tremble ever so subtly, she lost all control over her reactions. She keenly felt how her teeth grew and was aware that her eyes changed as the feral feeling inside of her increased to the point where she focussed on one thing and one thing only. She must have her dragonlord. And the bond agreed. As the feeling of hunger and yearning travelled along the bond, everything else became inconsequential – even to Merlin, who had fought this for so long. As he lowered his face to meet her upcoming, wet lips in an insatiable kiss, the entangled bond between them trembled in anticipation and desire.

The feeling of her eager lips on his almost took away whatever little breath he had left. An unbidden image of her kissing Gwaine came up in his mind and with a growl he pressed her further down into the mattress. She was his! He would not share! And as he projected his ownership to her, he deepened the kiss, inserting his tongue to roam the inside secret of her sweet mouth. A little surprised, yet exhilarated, hers came out to play with his and they both groaned deeply as their wet and slick tongues engaged in the ancient dance. Never letting go of her lips, Merlin wriggled his body on top of hers, one leg separating both of hers. Thrilled, she complied, arching her back and thrusting her soft belly skin against his. Her torso followed suit and Merlin hissed as he felt the coolness of her nipples against his chest. So delicious!

When Merlin finally relinquished her quivering lips, it was merely to close his own lips round one perfectly rosy button that instantly stood to perky attention under his deft ministrations. She moaned deeply and the sound of her full, guttural voice almost did him away. _**Oh no – not now, not yet**_. Letting out a deep groan himself, he dug down deeper between her legs, his member hard, jabbing against the upper part of her smooth thigh.

Then he hesitated. She was so young!

But his hesitation did not go well with Aithusa; aroused to the point of explosion, she grabbed his ears and turned his face towards hers, smoke virtually coming out of her mouth.

"I want this," she began, voice hoarse and deep, dragon like, and making sure he understood her, grabbed his shaft by its root, causing the warlock to jerk rather abruptly, "inside of … here," she continued, leading the tip of his member to her burning hot and soaking wet entrance.

And so he indulged her. Gently at first, and then in one full thrust, he buried himself to the hilt deep within her, revelling in her cry of triumph as she felt his very being inside of her. Slowly, the warlock began to move, hissing as he felt how her anatomy squeezed him tight, oh so very tight. If this continued, it would be over in a matter of seconds. Merlin pressed two fingers to her nape, sending a silent relaxation spell along her neck and spine. The effect was almost instantaneous and allowed him to exhale his abated breath, having bought them a little more time.

Still, it was quick. Both being young, they climaxed within a few minutes, panting, their bodies glistening with sweat and their muscles still contracting in the aftershock of peaking. The young warlock stayed within her; she felt so good, so warm, soft and lovely that he procrastinated his extraction. Lying on her chest, feeling how life made her lungs in- and exhale rhythmically, was perhaps the most comforting experience Merlin had ever had. Every bad memory he had harboured in his soul over the last couple of years seemed inconsequential and harmless; there was only this moment of bliss, this experience of joy. And nothing else mattered.

x

"He might be at the tavern," Gaius tried desperately, knowing full well that Merlin would have his guts for garters when he found out that his mentor had used the old explanation again. The old court physician's light blue eyes met the sapphire ones of the King.

"Been there – and he wasn't."

King Arthur was dressing himself, hastily and clumsily, his awkwardness a result of both the disappearance of manservant and the King's concern of the same. Gaius cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should wait just one more day?" he suggested meekly.

Arthur froze, looking at Gaius with an unfathomable expression.

"That's not like you, Gaius. You're usually the first to worry about Merlin."

"I'm just saying, Sire," the old mage murmured, "that there are other taverns in the vicinity."

"No, Gaius, he's in trouble. I can smell it," Arthur insisted, leaving no room for a second opinion, "and now with these reports of dragon sightings, it is more than imperative that we find him and his cousin."

Gaius fought back a loud sigh. Arthur was basically talking about protecting Merlin against himself, but of course, he had no way of knowing this.

The question was: Would Merlin be able to wrap up whatever he was doing before the King and his patrol found them?

x

Aithusa was the first to open her eyes. Underneath her, Merlin still lay snoring pleasantly, his mouth wide open and his nostrils flaring by every in- and exhale. His smooth chest coated with a thin layer of soft, dark hairs heaved up and down and heaved her with it. The dragon girl smiled, caressing the soft hair with her slim fingers and feeling her heart soften by the somewhat endearing and innocent sight. It was no wonder that he had been so tired; after all, humans, she acknowledged, did not share a dragon's stamina. And they had been at it. Oh, they had been at it.

Aithusa craned her long neck and turned to the matted, dirty window. She reached out a other hand and rubbed clean a spot large enough for her to peek through. Dusk was setting in and rapidly too. She sighed. This meant leaving the hut where they had had so much … fun. She giggled rather suddenly and happily. And even this did not wake up her dragonlord.

_My Lord_, she thought, _you command my powers – and my heart._

This had always been their Destiny, of course. That he should call her to life, that he should tutor her, love her and steal away her heart and soul. Only like this could they create Albion, only like this could they fulfil history and their Destinies. Now, that they had become united and One, there was nothing they couldn't do.

And finally, Merlin, the warlock, opened his eyes, their expression pregnant with sated happiness. Aithusa smiled back at him. Without a word, she extended a finger that turned slightly scaly when she traced his jawline with it. Merlin recognised her hungry glance and felt a certain part of his anatomy respond. He grabbed the busy finger.

"Start that and I'll have to finish it – but we can't. We have to go. It's already turning dark."

She pouted. "Responsible" Merlin was back. He was right, of course, but that didn't mean she had to like it. With a deep sigh, she swung her lithe and agile body over his and exited the cot. A rush of cold air graced Merlin's skin, making his soft body hair stand on end. Even that was incredibly erotic. He saw her turn, still naked in the semi-darkness, and ask: "Are you coming?".

The young sorcerer swallowed. "I just need a sec." His eyes trailed down his own body and following his glance, Aithusa giggled loudly. "Down, boy," she grinned and ducked as a pillow sailed through the room.

x

It took them merely 20 minutes to reach home, Aithusa's powerful, leathery wings bringing them swiftly and safely through the cool night air. Getting back into the castle, however, proved much more of a challenge than anticipated as something appeared to have raised the alarm. As Aithusa was still naked in her human form, Merlin would have to get clothes from somewhere before they could make their grand re-entry. To the dragon girl's regret, she had to don a shift that the warlock found hanging on an outdoor washing line. "Well, then," he said with a grin, "that'll make us a more matching couple – me in a slaver's rags and you in a shift."

"Aren't **you** the jester, Master Merlin," she scowled at him, "can you jest about an explanation to our disappearance too?"

Merlin's face fell. Unfortunately, his dragon was quite right. Cooking up a plausible explanation as to what had happened to them and their clothes would be difficult to say the least. _Anything but a tavern-story_, Merlin thought with annoyance.

Merlin was still thinking hard when they passed the city walls and noticed how riled up people were. The young sorcerer grabbed a young boy that was scooting across the street in a panicking manner that, unfortunately, he had seen before.

"What is it? Why are you all so frightened?" he asked him. The boy, who couldn't have been more than 10-12 years old, widened his eyes in both surprise and intense fear. "Haven't you heard, Sir? A dragon! A new dragon is coming!"

A cold sensation of ice spread through Merlin's body from his smallest toe to the top of his scalp. This boy was so young and even he remembered the attack of the Great Dragon years ago.

"How do you know this?" he asked, still holding on to a very fretting boy, who, most of all, just wanted to reach safety. "People have seen one! In the east. A huge white one. Torching a lot of people!"

Then, at last, Merlin let the boy go. Petrified by what he had heard, he didn't say anything the first minutes, but eventually he turned to Aithusa.

"The Oblivion-enchantment didn't hold."

x

"**MERLIN**! Where the **hell** have you been?"

The young King was all ready and set to go, armour shining (by the compliments of George, no doubt) and weapons sheathed and wrapped tightly round his waist. Behind him were his knights, fastening their capes, just as ready to move.

"And what kind of _rags _are those?" the King added with disgust, eyeing his manservant's gangly frame that looked even lankier in the much too big shirt and trousers.

"I .. um … we were … attacked," Merlin stammered. Arthur and the knights hissed, fortunately misunderstanding their friend's stutter. "How? When? Who? Are you hurt?" Arthur barked.

_Might as well go with the dragon-story_, Merlin suddenly thought by divine epiphany, _and twist it to our favour._

"We were abducted by slavers," Merlin said, his face expressing deep disgust, "but were saved in the last nick of moment."

Arthur and the knights were now surrounding the young serving boy, hands reaching out and checking his limbs and head. Though gratified and somewhat touched by their concern, Merlin evaded the many hands. "I'm all right – really, I am."

"Nonetheless," King Arthur said firmly, "you're going to Gaius. And your cousin. Where is she, by the way?"

"Already there."

"Then go join her," Arthur said, leaving no room for discussion, "after you tell me who saved you."

"You won't believe me!"

"Spill it, Merlin – it's an order."

"A white dragon."

Two incredibly blue eyes widened. "You're right. I don't believe you."

"I swear, its' the truth, Arthur," Merlin insisted, leaning over in urgency.

The King laid a chain mailed and heavy hand on his friend's shoulder, "you're mistaken. It can't have been helping you – we have heard reports of how it attacks people. You must have been frightened out of your wits and perceived the whole situation upside down."

"Well, if it had ill intents towards us, its target is way off," Merlin said with searing sarcasm, "the slavers were just about to throw themselves upon us when it came and roasted the ruffians to a crisp, leaving us unharmed."

His statement was met by thundering silence, all the knights including the King looking at him with a stony glance.

"Look! Here!" Merlin cried, holding out his roomy shirt, "it's one of the slave trader's shirts. Smell it. Burnt, right?"

The warlock met the eyes of all the present knights. They were all full of sympathy – and incredulity.

"Come – **on**!" Merlin cried in frustration, "show me the respect of believing me just for this frigging once!"

The eyes of one knight changed, but not into what Merlin would have liked. Gwaine's glance had become disturbingly insightful.

The rest, however … Arthur's gloved hand landed, once again, on Merlin's frail shoulder.

"Go to Gaius, Merlin. We'll talk about this later – when you're feeling better."

Merlin's _**I'm telling you ...!**_ was still echoing as Elyan was pushing him down the corridor.

Arthur turned to the rest of his Knights of the Round Table.

"Let's go hunt us some dragon," he said with all the confidence of a former dragon-slayer (!). Only one knight didn't partake in the cheering. Instead, his eyes turned to the direction of Gaius' chambers. This expression was thoughtful.

x

Aithusa greeted him with glee when Merlin entered the court physician's laboratory, but at the sight of her dragonlord's expression, her face soon fell and her cocked eyebrow matched that of Gaius.

"What is it?" she asked. Merlin sighed and started tearing off his slaver's rags. Gaius quickly threw him a blanket, squinting at the young dragon girl with concern.

"I couldn't convince Arthur that the dragon attack helped the goodies and fought down the baddies."

"Did you expect that?" she asked, making a better and better imitation of Gaius' eyebrow. Merlin went to the washing bowl, meeting her eyes in the process. "Stupid, I know."

Without minding her presence, the young warlock let the blanket fall and started washing himself, head to toe. Gaius looked from dragon to warlock and back again, his mind working overtime. Then slowly, he said: "What has happened between you two?"

They didn't have to answer. Aithusa's cheeks flushed with happiness and her smile nearly split her face open from ear to ear whereas Merlin just flushed all over.

_Let's just say it was Destiny_, was the reply that Merlin was about to relay to Gaius once he was able to open his mouth. As usual, however, Aithusa beat him to it.

"We had sex!" she said, beaming. Merlin jumped in surprise.

Gaius turned his head slowly from Aithusa to Merlin, his eyebrow now completely vanished in his hair line.

"Indeed," was his curt and wry comment, though his eyes spoke volumes, pinning down his young apprentice whose pale skin was all history.

Meanwhile, King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table were on reptilian rampage. A mission hell bent on destroying one prominent dragon. And the King had sworn he would not rest before the threat was obliterated.

xxx

**TBC.**

**Reviews anyone? Tell me how I fared and what you would like. More smut? Less? None?**


	6. Gwaine and Epilogue: The White Dragon

**Disclaimers**: This is all BBC's. No infringements intended.

**A/N**: Thanks to _FireChildSlytherin5_ for giving me the idea of the leech tank. ;) And thanks to XAOTL Omega for his faithful reviews and for requesting this story. I hope it met with your expectations. Very little smut this time, but lots of mush and fluff.

THANK YOU ALL FOR READING!

CHAPTER 8

**Gwaine**

The following day, the King and his patrol returned, chagrined. The tall, strong men were tired, covered in grime and feeling somewhat disillusioned. They had talked with the implicated people who had been the unfortunate victims of the slave traders, but all the could get out of them was that they had been abducted, they had been abused and they had eventually escaped the dragon's foul flames. After that, their stories became hazy at best. Most of them couldn't remember anything, but some of them recalled waking up in their clothes, finding themselves to be back in their respective villages. Either way, none of them had any idea where the dragon had gone or even where it came from. The only lead the knights had was that a man appeared to have been standing beside the creature, ostensibly not afraid at all. He was described as tall, dark haired, very thin and completely naked like the rest of them. Obviously, then, he must have been a victim like all of them. Why, then, hadn't he been frightened? One of two swore that he had put his hand on them, subjecting them to a sensation of warm solace right before they lost unconsciousness. Could he have been a sorcerer? However, if he was, why had he let himself been captured by these slavers?

In short, their trip had elicited more questions than it had answered. Even the dragon itself had been the object of various opinions. Some said it was tall as a mountain, others than it had eight legs; then there were those who had noticed two dragons and another had noticed three. In fact, the only detail that everybody agreed on was that there had been a white dragon.

Arthur ordered detailed reports of all his knights and then returned to his quarters, his head swimming with concerns of the dragon's origin. Was it the dragon from the tower? Hadn't the egg been destroyed when the tower collapsed? Had the egg been removed before the tower collapsed? If so, by whom? Or was there a second egg somewhere else that they had known nothing about?

George – Merlin still not back at his post – was already waiting there with hot water and clean clothes. Remaining annoyingly chatty in terms of his chores. But not once did he ask about the mission, not a word relevant to Arthur's enigmatic challenge came over his lips. As such, George was the perfect manservant – and a dead bore. Not for the first time did Arthur found himself missing his insubordinate manservant.

x

As the only participant of the patrol, Gwaine did not return to his quarters. Instead, ignoring his tired muscles and aching frame, he went straight to the court physician's chambers, seeking out Merlin.

Ever since they had departed, one and only one question kept roaming his head, and before he could relax and find solace at the bottom of a full tankard of prime mead, he had to have it out. And there he was, standing in front of the old wooden door. Hesitating just a second, he extended his hand – and finally knocked.

"Enter," came Merlin's low and somewhat muffled voice. When Gwaine opened the door, he discovered the reason for the muffleness. Merlin was head down into what appeared to be a leech tank, his head covered in grime and … thirsty leeches. When the knight entered, the young man looked positively relieved.

"Oh, thank god, - Gwaine. Please - **please** - come in."

"Merlin!" the knight exclaimed a little surprised and then turned his head from one side to the other. "Where's Gaius?"

His young friend winced. "On his rounds. And in a foul mood which is why I'm head down in this haven of bloodsuckers," he continued and upon seeing the obvious question hovering on Gwaine's lips, "don't … even ask."

Gwaine smiled. "I shan't. And incidentally … you're the one I'm looking for."

"Oh?" Merlin reached out for a handful of salt and rubbed it in his face, grimacing as the leeches let go of him and dropped down onto the floor. "How can I help you?" Merlin indicated a chair and sat down with him over the table.

"Where's Aithusa?" Gwaine asked.

"With Gwen, having another dress fitted. She lost hers at the slavers."

Gwaine nodded, satisfied. Her absence made it all so much easier. He straightened, reached out for the mug of water his host was pouring him and cleared his voice. Then he opened his mouth and …

… nothing came out. Merlin tilted his head, like a dog puzzled with its master. Still nothing came out. Helpfully, the young sorcerer said, "does it have something to do with your patrol?"

Gwaine let out a hiss of relief, "yes! Oh, yes."

And then the charming rogue explained the findings and the slave victims' descriptions. Merlin sat back, his handsome face etched with concern and his dark blue eyes serious. Finally Gwaine came to his point and reason for seeking out his friend in the first place.

"This man, Merlin, was described as tall, thin, dark-haired, naked – and dead calm."

"Dead calm?"

"Yeah, dead calm. I mean – they all gave us diverging descriptions, but this they were reasonably agreeing on. That this man appeared to have no fear at all."

Merlin's palate felt completely dry and he was fairly certain that he hadn't been blinking for the past ten minutes. As the oblivion enchantment appeared to have been ineffective, the matter of the villagers noticing his presence at the slavers shouldn't surprise him or worry him, and it didn't. His concern was, rather: Why did Gwaine come to **him **with this news?

"And … why is that so significant?"

"Because, Merlin..." Gwaine swallowed, ".. and please, don't take this the wrong way... but … you were there."

Merlin finally blinked, his eyes in much need of this lubricant. "Yeah, I was there, but I don't remember the man."

Gwaine looked at the young man in front of him, pinning him with his dark brown eyes. "Are you sure? One witness that I spoke to, described to me how the young girl that stood next to the man – **appeared to change into a monster**..."

During Gwaine's narrative, a lump had developed within the young sorcerer's throat, a fact he hadn't been aware of until now. With a huge effort, Merlin swallowed it as discreetly as he could, trying not to convey too much anxiety.

"Really? What does Arthur have to say about that?"

"I haven't told Arthur … yet."

"You should," said Merlin, still trying to keep up the pretence.

"I think not. You see, there's the small matter of a word that Aithusa used to describe you at the tavern."

"Yeah? What was that?"

Gwaine leaned forward, looking hard at his friend.

"Dragonlord!"

Merlin swallowed again and this time visibly.

"Why haven't you told me about this before?" he said, his voice breaking ever so slightly.

"As long as she didn't tell anybody else, I thought it best to ignore it. But now … Merlin, I need to know."

"What?"

This time it was Gwaine's turn to swallow. "I always felt there was something about you, my friend. Something unique. This, I feel, could be it. … So are you?"

Merlin felt the ground underneath him open and swallow him whole.

"Am I what?" he rasped.

"A dragonlord?"

How to respond to that? Merlin thought, fighting back a gasp. Someone had finally figured out something about him. And here it was, his chance. His chance to secure himself an ally. An ally and confidante among the knights to replace Lancelot, God rest his soul. Well, what it all came down to was: Could he trust Gwaine? If Gwaine approved of his friend's dragonlord-status, would he be able to hold his tongue when he was drinking his brains out in the tavern?

Feeling for support on the tilting ground beneath him, the young manservant asked his friend: "What if I were?"

The knight shrugged. "I'd say 'thank you for protecting Camelot from dragons'." he said, breaking out his irresistible smile.

Merlin squinted at him, a tentative smile on his lips. "It's not as simple as that."

"No? Why don't you tell me?"

"Dragons are magical beings. I have an obligation to protect them – but I would never let them hurt Camelot."

"And Aithusa?" Gwaine asked, his voice surprisingly soft. Merlin instantly felt himself turn protective. "Whadda ya mean, _Aithusa_?"

Gwaine grinned and held up his hands in a defensive gesture.

"Woah, there, young Master of Monsters. I'm not out to blow her whistle – I just want to know how she's connected with the beast."

"I can't tell you that, Gwaine. You must trust me here."

Gwaine shrugged and got up, apparently doing exactly what Merlin was asking of him.

"I'll trust you, my friend – but perhaps," he added, looking intently at the warlock, "you should also trust me."

The heartbreaker then proceeded to the door, grabbing the handle, but turned round once more before opening the door, saying: "After all, Merlin. You could use an ally. I can understand why you don't tell the princess too much about yourself. A thing like that could make a man one head shorter. But you shouldn't have to carry the weight on your own."

And then finally Merlin broke into a relaxed smile, his eyes beaming at the knight.

"Thank you, my friend. I will remember that."

x

The leech tank was spick and span by the time Gaius returned. The older man was still sending daggers at the younger, but at least he wasn't shouting at him anymore. Merlin vividly recalled their discussion, Aithusa, naturally, having been the topic.

"**Are you out of your mind? Did you sleep with her?**"

Merlin, with his downcast eyes, murmured something like 'not really any of your concern'.

"You **bet **it is my concern," Gaius raged, "I'm an inhabitant of this world too, and your actions could tear it down!"

"? Surely not," Merlin said, his head popping up in surprise.

"She's a shapeshifter, Merlin! Who knows what result will come of your joining!"

"?What?" Merlin had asked, still not understanding.

"It is unprecedented. The two of you being so powerful creatures. You hold the key to and protection of Camelot in your hands. What if you have a lovers' quarrel and she takes off? What if she becomes pregnant and dies in childbirth? What if..."

"Gaius, Gaius ..." Merlin, mortified, had eventually hastened to interrupt him. The court physician had moved way into the future where Merlin hadn't been able to follow him at all.

And so Gaius had left him with the leech tank, a particularly vicious glint in his eyes, and taken off on his rounds.

"Where's Aithusa?" he now asked, his voice still reeking of annoyance.

"Still with Gwen," Merlin said, eyeing him as his mentor inspected the cleaner than clean leech tank.

"At least, I have heard, it seems that the patrol didn't get much from the villagers," Gaius murmured, his head out of the tank again, "that is something, I suppose. Now, if nothing else happens, we can ..."

"Gwaine knows that I'm a dragonlord and that Aithusa is connected with the white dragon," Merlin disclosed quickly, wanting desperately to get this piece of bad news out of the way.

"_**WHAT?**_"

Merlin winced; Gaius' high pitched voice had reached impossible decibels. The young sorcerer hastened to reach out two soothing hands.

"Not to worry! He swore he wouldn't tell anyone and even asked me to trust him. It's Gwaine, for god's sake."

"You think he's more loyal to you than to Arthur?"

"Yeah, actually."

Gaius opened his mouth and closed it comically again. This, he had not predicted.

"Are you serious?" he asked softly.

Merlin nodded. "From day one, Gwaine has always professed to being my friend rather than Arthur's. I'm sure that he actually likes the King now, but due to his background, he has always felt more aligned to commoners than to nobles."

Gaius nodded, thoughtful; he knew about the knight's strained relationship to royals.

"Still," he said with a sigh, "he likes his mead and ale. If he gets drunk as a skunk..."

"Which he does almost every night," Merlin interjected for him.

"... he might blow the whistle on you both," the old physician finished.

The warlock nodded. He knew that perfectly well. So far Gwaine had never breathed an indiscreet word about his work for Arthur while he was drinking, but there was always a first. Merlin's full lips became a straight line. He knew what was coming.

"Merlin," Gaius said gently. Merlin finished his thought for him: "I know...

… Aithusa must leave Camelot."

The old mage looked at the younger one with sympathy as he stood there, his shoulders slumping and his chin approaching his neckerchief. Such a lonely, vulnerable figure, a haunted, hunted creature. And now, the only other creature that really did understand and relate to him would have to leave.

x

She was so happy when she left for Gwen to have another dress fitted. She was less happy when she returned through the creaky old wooden door. She had felt his anxiety through the bond long before reaching the castle and it had made her hurry to get home. She didn't say a word, but went to him without preamble, seeking his hand with hers, intertwining their fingers. Leaning over ever so gently; stealing a kiss ever so softly. Merlin held his breath. The intensity of the interdependence between them. How could he ever say goodbye to that?

_What is it?_ She asked by projection. _I don't want to lose you_, he projected back.

_Never!_ She assured him, her insistence so firm it almost hurt his mind. Matching her words with action, she cupped his chin and brought down his sweet, young face to hers, catching his lips, suckling them. Merlin turned to her, unable to quell his reactions to her lovely form and sweet countenance and handed her his lips for her to play with as she wished. Eagerly, she thrust her tongue into his being and pressed her pelvis against a certain hard part of his body. The young sorcerer moaned and gasped for breath. With swift and impatient hands, the dragon unbuckled his belt and trousers and with one decisive push, she put him where she wanted him: on the cot. Before he even had a chance to get up, she followed suit, straddling him and muffled up his "what about Gaius..." with her mouth.

x

The late afternoon sun was playing with the reflections on their smooth and slightly moist skin as it danced over their exposed limbs, one paler than the other. The two nude figures had never bothered with covering themselves up with a blanket as one delightful lovemaking led to another. Merlin let his fingers stroke and comb her long, soft tresses and removed his hand only to circle one perfect rosy nipple after the other once in a while.

"I really can't be without you," he murmured.

"Why would you?" came her voice, mature and sated.

"Because, Gwaine knows and Gwaine drinks – and Arthur will not rest until he finds you."

He felt her body stiffen and instantly regretted his words. He should have waited. Just one more hour, just one more minute. They could have had that time together without worries. Then she shrugged, but her heavy relaxed posture never returned. "I'm a shapeshifter. How could he possibly find me?"

"This is a small castle, Aithusa. The risk is tangible."

"There is always a risk – Life is a risk."

"Then, we must minimise that risk."

Finally, as she felt she was running out of arguments, she popped up on her elbows and leaned over her lover, her hair brushing over his chest, caressing his milky skin.

"I will not be without you!"

Merlin smiled at her vigilance, his heart swelling with pride that she should want and love him this much. "You will not. But we cannot be together **here**. You must go back to your dragon home and we will meet as often as we can outside the castle."

Despite his effort to ease her mind, her eyes had begun to glisten. Merlin sat up and kissed her deeply, leading her down to the cot mattress again.

"Listen," he whispered, "it was, after all, the plan all the time. That you should stay here and learn how to speak and then return to your lair where you would become a strong dragon. If you stay here, you will have to remain in human form. Any transformation into a dragon would put your life in danger. In your lair, there would be no such perils. You could do anything."

"Except be with you," she pointed out, her voice breaking.

"I will visit you. As often as possible. There would be so much more freedom for us to explore our magic together."

Two pearly tears made it down her ivory cheeks and sought refuge in her hair as soon as they reached an obstacle. Then she pressed her wet mouth to his lips, drinking the being that was Merlin.

"I will not tolerate tardiness," she whispered, "if you stay away, I will personally break through the city walls to get you."

Merlin grinned into her mouth; then he jerked suddenly when her long fingers cupped his manhood.

EPILOGUE

**The White Dragon of Albion**

The departure had to be planned meticulously. A young lady could not arrive in Camelot and then just one night disappear without raising a stir. Making up a cover story of how forgotten relatives had contacted Merlin about Aithusa, the warlock made sure both Arthur, the knights and Gwen knew and let them throw his young ward a farewell party. Each of the participants had a gift for the girl; Gwen had sewn yet another beautiful gown, the knights had found a steady steed for her shaky riding abilities, Gaius had put together a apothecary travelling gear (not, he thought, that she would really need it. Her dragon powers were more than sufficient to heal most injuries) and the King gave her a blood red cape, the colour of Camelot and an assurance that she would always be welcome in the castle. Then Arthur nearly gave his manservant a heart attack when he insisted that he'd join them on the journey to keep them safe from the 'vicious white dragon' that he feared might come upon them if they travelled unprotected. Fortunately, Gwaine saved the day by stepping in and offering his services as escort and to Merlin's immense relief, Arthur accepted this (though grudgingly and only because he knew that his 'dragon slayer powers' were best used to protect Camelot) and thus a party of three could leave Camelot in the direction of Aithusa's imaginary village, Eowyn, with her just as imaginary relatives.

A little unsteady on the back of her new horse, Aithusa waved her goodbyes to her human friends and turned to follow Gwaine and her dragonlord. She wasn't happy. She's liked it there. Yet, she saw sense in Merlin's argument that meeting somewhere else would give them more freedom and safety. In a perfect world, she thought, Camelot would be free of fear of magic and trusting in an alliance between royalty and magical creatures would prevail. If only King Arthur knew how much he and Camelot could gain from this.

Aithusa turned her head towards Merlin, feeling a sting to her heart; gods, but he was beautiful. Right there and then, it felt impossible for her to accept that they wouldn't be seeing each other every day anymore. _But when we do see each other, it will be in a manner uninhibited and unhinged_, an amused warlock thought back. _**Oh**_. Inadvertently, she had apparently projected her musings to him.

_How do we get rid of Gwaine?_

_We don't_, he emphasised, _we let him take us close to the border and then you take off from the ground while he sleeps._

"What are you two thinking about?" came the knight's drawling voice, his right eye winking at them both. Merlin almost jumped in his saddle. Not for the first time did he draw the conclusion that Gwaine was less oblivious to his surroundings than one would think.

"Um … that it will be a long time before we see each other again," Merlin said, choosing to focus on something that was actually true. Gwaine fell serious. "Indeed," he offered and became silent.

x

Two days later they reached the border. One glance between Merlin and Aithusa was enough to confirm their plan the following night. Merlin offered to take the second watch and a very tired Gwaine accepted and then proceeded to keep the first watch. Three hours later, the warlock rose and went to tap his friend on his chain mailed shoulder. The knight didn't start. He had expected it.

And once again the mead-loving man surprised the dragonlord: "Is she leaving tonight, Merlin?" came the silent question, his Irish accent more audible than ever. Merlin hesitated, but decided in the end that his friend deserved the truth.

"Yes."

Then without a word, the suave knight went to the young woman and leaned down towards her. Like the softest caresses Merlin had ever seen, Gwaine dropped a feather light chaste kiss on the smooth, pale cheek before he returned to his cape and proceeded to lie down.

Merlin smiled. Oh, yeah. They could trust Gwaine.

x

For once, the frisky night air didn't feel cold at all. This despite the fact that the stars stood clear and twinkling on the black firmament above them. Aithusa had shed her dress and swept it and the other gowns Gwen had given her into a pouch for her to carry with her on her flight to Kilgharrah's cave. She stood there in front of him, naked as the day she had approached Camelot, still devoid of any false modesty. She reached out her slim hand, offering it to Merlin, who wrapped his large one round it. _See you in a sec_, he assured her. _I know_, she projected. The young dragon girl closed her water blue eyes one short moment and then the hand that held Merlin's started metamorphosing into something rough, shiny white and scaly. Her nails grew, sharpening by every inch to the point where Merlin felt claws dig into his palm. And still he held on. When her hand eventually let go of his, Merlin turned his head and looked … upwards. Next to him stood an incredibly tall reptilian being with a glistening white skin, transparent, yet deep, deep eyes with long white lashes, a sleek head with a long nose ridge and a thin mouth full of pointy teeth and pink nostrils already pulsating with bluish smoke. Merlin gasped, impressed despite all the times he had seen this.

The White Dragon of Albion had finished her education. She now knew what it was to be human; she had learned to pronounce their language; she had learned how to socialise; she had become acquainted with feeling down, blue, anxious, desperate, frightened, angry, mad, jealous, embarrassed, sympathetic, happy, thrilled, sated, loved – and **in** love. She would now be able to read and understand her dragonlord perfectly and they would be and move as One when Albion needed them.

Humble in front of her Lord and their task to come, the mighty creature lowered her head, reaching out to him with her soft sensitive quivering lips and flaring nostrils.

Merlin landed his long hand on her forehead and nose ridge, gently stroking the incandescent scales. Then he leaned his entire torso to rest on the dragon's head, still caressing her cheeks and pressing his lips onto her brow. His eyes brimming over, two silver tears fell on her eye lashes, causing her to blink and release her own drops of salty fluid.

_Let those who share a tear drop never part within_, she quoted.

_That's beautiful_, he projected back, _where is that from?_

_The Legend of Emrys and Aithusa, Chapter 1, paragraph 1, first line._

He laughed and straightened, in his mind adding her sense of humour to her newly acquired human traits.

"You are quite the poet," he whispered, "and one day, you will write our story."

Planting one last kiss on her upper lip, Merlin finally stepped back, giving her space to lift off the ground. As her powerful hind legs pushed of, the young warlock felt the earth tremble, just as her wing stroke whipped up a sharp wind that blew through his raven hair, caressing it.

_Uphold the bond_, he told her, _see you soon._

_See you soon_, she answered through the bond, _oh, and Merlin, one last thing..._

_Yes?_ He asked, peering into the night where her white form gradually became smaller and smaller as she disappeared in the night.

… _I'm pregnant._

Aithusa wasn't quite sure. She was already far away and her news had left the sorcerer taciturn with shock for a while. However, she did believe she eventually heard him project frantically:

_Gaius is going to kill me!_

And high above Albion's ruggedly attractive landscape, the White Dragon exploded in a pearly laughter.

THE END?


End file.
